Multi-radio communication between wireless devices

ABSTRACT

In various embodiments, two wireless communication devices may communicate with each other using multiple protocols, by dividing the data to be communicated into multiple portions, and using each protocol to communicate different portions. The different protocols may be used simultaneously or concurrently. This multi-protocol technique may be used in several different ways to provide different types of advantages in wireless communications.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, claims the benefit of andpriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/909,544, filed Oct. 21,2010, which is derived from, and claims priority to U.S. provisionalapplication Ser. No. 61/259,086, filed Nov. 6, 2009, both of which areincorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

An increasing number of wireless devices such as smart phones, laptops,netbooks, etc. are expected to support multiple types of wirelessprotocols in their communications. Examples are wide-area protocols suchas WiMAX or LTE, local-area protocols such as WiFI, and personal-areaprotocols such as Bluetooth. Much effort has gone into making itpossible for a first device to communicate with a second device usingthe best available protocol out of multiple possible protocols. And somedevices are able to communicate with two different devices, using adifferent protocol for each one. Typically, each protocol is chosenbased on which network the other device is in, since a given networktypically uses a single protocol for all communications. But havingmulti-protocol capability in each of two conventional devices doeslittle to improve any one specific communication between those twodevices in a conventional network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the invention may be better understood by referringto the following description and accompanying drawings that are used toillustrate embodiments of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows two wireless devices communicating with each other,according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a method of communicating between twodevices using multiple protocols, according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of a method of basing multi-protocolcommunications on channel conditions, according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of a method of using multiple protocols forcommunication redundancy, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of a method of using multiple protocols forcommunication diversity, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram of a method of using multiple protocols forload balancing, according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth.However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, well-knowncircuits, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail inorder not to obscure an understanding of this description.

References to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “example embodiment”,“various embodiments”, etc., indicate that the embodiment(s) of theinvention so described may include particular features, structures, orcharacteristics, but not every embodiment necessarily includes theparticular features, structures, or characteristics. Further, someembodiments may have some, all, or none of the features described forother embodiments.

In the following description and claims, the terms “coupled” and“connected,” along with their derivatives, may be used. It should beunderstood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other.Rather, in particular embodiments, “connected” is used to indicate thattwo or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact witheach other. “Coupled” is used to indicate that two or more elementsco-operate or interact with each other, but they may or may not haveintervening physical or electrical components between them.

As used in the claims, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinaladjectives “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., to describe a commonelement, merely indicate that different instances of like elements arebeing referred to, and are not intended to imply that the elements sodescribed must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, inranking, or in any other manner.

Various embodiments of the invention may be implemented in one or anycombination of hardware, firmware, and software. The invention may alsobe implemented as instructions contained in or on a computer-readablemedium, which may be read and executed by one or more processors toenable performance of the operations described herein. Acomputer-readable medium may include any mechanism for storinginformation in a form readable by one or more computers. For example, acomputer-readable medium may include a tangible storage medium, such asbut not limited to read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM);magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; a flash memorydevice, etc.

The term “wireless” may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems,methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that communicatedata by using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solidmedium. The term does not imply that the associated devices do notcontain any wires. A wireless device may comprise at least one antenna,at least one radio, at least one memory, and at least one processor,where the radio transmits signals through the antenna that representdata and receives signals through the antenna that represent data, whilethe processor may process the data to be transmitted and the data thathas been received. The processor may also process other data which isneither transmitted nor received.

As used within this document, the term “communicating” means 1)wirelessly transmitting to another device, or 2) wirelessly receivingfrom that device, or 3) both wirelessly transmitting to that device andwirelessly receiving from that device. The data to be communicated mayinclude the content to be transferred, control data to indicate how toextract the content from the full communication, verification data todetermine if the data that was received was the same data that wastransmitted, and preamble data to permit the receiver to synchronize onthe incoming signal.

As used within this document, the term ‘protocol’ indicates a particularset of formats, channels, modulation techniques, rules of communication,etc. that have been defined in one or more standards for communicatingwirelessly. For example, WiFi, WiMAX, LTE, and Bluetooth are eachconsidered different protocols, and for some purposes each of these mayeven be subdivided into multiple separate protocols.

As used within this document, the term ‘simultaneous’ communicationmeans that two communications (transmitting, receiving, or both) happenat the same time, while the term ‘concurrent’ communication means thatthe two communications may occur during the same period of time, but donot necessarily happen at the same time. Concurrent communication is thebroader term, and may include instances of simultaneous communication.If two communications overlap in time partially but not completely, theoverall communications may be described as concurrent, while theoverlapping portion may be described as simultaneous. As a practicalmatter, different protocols may use some, all, or none of the same radiohardware in the same device for concurrent or simultaneouscommunication.

Within the context of this document, communicating simultaneously withfirst and second protocols indicates that both protocols are being usedin transmission and/or reception at the same time, while communicatingconcurrently with first and second protocols means that a particularsequence of transmissions and/or receptions may use both protocolsduring a particular time period, but one protocol may or may not be inuse at exactly the same time as the other.

In various embodiments, two devices may communicate with each otherusing multiple protocols, by dividing the data to be communicated intomultiple parts, and using each protocol to communicate different parts.This technique may be used in several different ways to providedifferent types of advantages. Each of the two devices may serve anyfeasible function in the network(s) that are involved, such as networkcontroller (access point, base station, central point, etc.), mobiledevice (mobile node, subscriber stations, STA, etc), relay station,server, or other. In some embodiments the data being communicated overthe multiple protocols may be associated with a single application, suchas but not limited to http traffic, video streaming, file downloads,email, network information, etc.).

FIG. 1 shows two wireless devices communicating with each other,according to an embodiment of the invention. The illustrated devices area notebook computer 110 and a wireless controller 120, but they could beany two devices that communicate wirelessly with each other. The numberof antenna on each device may be compatible with the particularprotocols each device is capable of supporting. These devices are showncommunicating with each other using two different protocols, indicatedas Pro. A and Pro. B, although each device may be capable of supportingmore than two protocols. The following descriptions will typicallydescribe devices using two protocols to communicate with each other,using WiFi and WiMAX as examples, but the inventive concepts may beextended to three or more protocols, using any specific protocols thatare feasible. Besides WiFi and WiMAX, other examples are LTE, Bluetooth,GSM, 3G, 4G, Zigbee, 60 GHz, etc.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a method of communicating between twodevices using multiple protocols, according to an embodiment of theinvention. In the illustrated example, a device determines at 210 thatdata is to be wirelessly communicated to a second device. This data mayinclude not only data that is to be transmitted to the second device,but may also include data that is to be received from the second device.Such data may include the content that is to be communicated (in eitherdirection), overhead data for defining how the content is organized,verification data for assuring the received data is uncorrupted, controldata, etc.

At 220, the device may examine the nature of the data, the existingchannel conditions, and any other relevant factors to determine ifmultiple protocols are to be used in the communication. In someembodiments, only the possibility of multi-protocol communication may bedetermined at this point, while the actual use of multiple protocols maybe determined later based on conditions at that time.

At 230, the data to be communicated may be separated into multipleparts, with some parts to be communicated using one protocol and otherparts to be communicated using a second protocol. In some instances,more than two protocols may be involved in this manner. The nature ofthe division into multiple parts may depend on various factors, such asbut not limited to: 1) which protocols are available to both devices andsupported by both devices, 2) the type of data to be transmitted, 3)channel loading, 4) channel quality, 5) data rates supported by theavailable protocols, 6) overhead requirements of the two protocols, 7)etc. In some instances, the division into multiple parts may take placeafter the communication sequence has begun, based on conditions at thetime. In some embodiments the division into multiple parts may takeplace at the OSI PHY layer, in other embodiments at OSI MAC layer, inother embodiments at a higher layer. In some embodiments, division maytake place across multiple layers. At 240 and 250, the different partsof the data may be communicated using the selected protocols. Of course,the receiver may subsequently take the data received over the multipleprotocols and reassemble it into the original data. Since differences inthe protocols may cause the different parts to be received out of order,suitable identification techniques may be used to determine the correctorder in which to reassemble the data.

In some embodiments, at least one of the available protocols may use apredominantly controller-centric protocol in which a network controllerschedules the communications by other devices in the network. Inaddition (or alternatively), at least one of the available protocols mayuse a contention-based technique in which each device must contend foraccess to the media before being allowed to transmit. Some protocols mayallow both, with appropriate safeguards to prevent the unscheduledcontention-based communications and the scheduled communications frominterfering with each other if they use the same frequency bands.Further, some protocols may be designed for licensed spectrum, whileothers may operate over unlicensed spectrum. In some embodiments usingboth contention-based and scheduled protocols, the contention-basedprotocol may be given priority to gain access to the medium, and thescheduled protocol may then be scheduled in coordination with thecontention-based protocol.

In some embodiments, a particular wireless device may use all or partsof the same radio for both protocols. For example, the device may usethe same power amplifier(s) for transmission, the same tuner forreception, the same digital signal processor (DSP), the same antenna(s),etc. This may affect whether the device can communicate with bothprotocols simultaneously or if they must be used at different times in aconcurrent operation. In some embodiments, the particular device may useall or parts of the same frequency spectrum for both protocols. Thisalso may affect whether the device can communicate with both protocolssimultaneously, since one protocol could interfere with another if thesame or similar frequencies are being used at the same time.

The concept of two different devices using multiple protocols tocommunicate with each other simultaneously or concurrently may be usedto advantage in a number of different ways. Some of these are describedin the following sections.

Dynamic Interference Reduction

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of a method of basing multi-protocolcommunications on channel conditions, according to an embodiment of theinvention. At 310 and 320, the device may monitor channel conditions onboth protocols to determine which protocol is more likely to producebetter performance. This may be done before beginning the communicationsequence to determine which protocol to use. This may also be doneduring the communication sequence to determine whether to switch toanother protocol. Channel conditions may include anything that affectsthe likely error rate or probability of time-consuming error correctionprocedures. Signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) is one suchparameter that the device may measure directly, and/or it may receiveSINR information from the other device as that parameter was determinedby the other device. Received signal strength indicator (RSSI) isanother parameter the device may use, whether measured directly orobtained from the other device.

SINR and RSSI are indirect indications of the probable error rate in theimmediate future, but the device may obtain actual error rates from pastperformance. Such error rates may include the bit error rate (BER),packet error rate (PER), and other such parameters that imply immediatefuture performance based on past actual performance. As before, theseparameters may be determined by the device through its own observations,or received from another device based on that device's determinations.By comparing such parameters from both protocols, the device may make adecision about which protocol is likely to provide the betterperformance in the immediate future.

After making this determination, the device may select the preferredprotocol at 330 and use it for communication at 340. In someembodiments, the device may continue to monitor channel conditions, asindicated by the loop from 340 back to 310, and dynamically change theactive protocol when conditions justify it. Since changing from oneprotocol to another may involve a certain amount of overhead traffic, insome embodiments a hysteresis effect may be used to require that acertain minimum level of performance improvement is likely beforechanging protocols.

Redundancy

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of a method of using multiple protocols forcommunication redundancy, according to an embodiment of the invention.Redundancy, as the term is used here, involves transmitting the samedata over both protocols. This increases the probability that thecorrect data will be received, which decreases the probability that itwill be lost or have to be retransmitted later. In the illustratedembodiment, the available protocols to be used may be determined at 410.This may be done in any feasible manner, including but not limited totechniques described elsewhere in this document. At 420, the data to becommunicated redundantly may be determined, and transmitted at 430 overboth protocols by the transmitter.

The data selected for redundant communication may be chosen based onvarious factors. The resultant selection may result in these or otherchoices: 1) the entire content may be communicated redundantly over bothprotocols, 2) the more important parts of the content may becommunicated redundantly over both protocols, 3) overhead information,such as control information, headers, acknowledgements, requests forretransmission, etc. may be communicated redundantly over bothprotocols. The data may be encoded with various error correction codingtechniques and the resulting redundant information may be transmittedover multiple protocols.

At 440, the redundant data may be received by the receiver, which maythen select which set of redundant data to use at 450. This choice maybe made based on various factors, such as but not limited to: 1) if bothsets are received correctly, a predetermined preference may be followed,2) if one set is received incorrectly and cannot be corrected by thereceiver, the other set may be selected, 3) if one set is receivedcorrectly, and the other set is received incorrectly but can becorrected by the receiver, the correct set may be used or the receivermay correct and use the other set, 4) if both sets are receivedincorrectly and cannot be corrected, the receiver may requestretransmission of one, both, or neither set.

Although FIG. 4 shows 410-430 being performed by the transmitter and440-450 being performed by the receiver, other embodiments maydistribute the functions in other ways. For example, the receiver maydetermine the protocols to be used and/or determine which data should beredundant, and communicate those choices to the transmitter.

Diversity

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of a method of using multiple protocols forcommunication diversity, according to an embodiment of the invention.Diversity, as the term is used here, involves splitting up the data andtransmitting a portion over one protocol and another portion overanother protocol. In some embodiments, the content may be split up andcommunicated over different protocols. In other embodiments, overheaddata may be split up and communicated over different protocols. In stillother embodiments, both content and overhead data may be split up andcommunicated over different protocols. In still other embodiments,content may be communicated over one protocol and overhead or controlinformation over another protocol.

In the illustrated embodiment, the protocols to be used are determinedat 510. At 520, the data to be transmitted is separated into multipleportions, and at 530 each portion is allocated to one of the protocols.This allocation may be based on various factors, such as but not limitedto: 1) channel quality for each protocol, 2) available bandwidth of eachprotocol, 3) the time-criticality of each portion, 4) etc. The dataportions may be transmitted over the respective protocols at 540 andreceived at 550. The receiver may then combine the portions at 560 tore-create the original message. The arrow looping back from 560 to 520indicates that this process may be repeated continuously, so that theamount of data conveyed over each protocol may be changed as warrantedby changing conditions.

Although FIG. 5 shows 510-540 being performed by the transmitter and550-560 being performed by the receiver, other embodiments maydistribute the functions in other ways. For example, the receiver maydetermine the protocols to be used and/or determine which data should besent over which protocol, and communicate those choices to thetransmitter.

Increased Resolution

Multi-protocol communication may be used to transmit increased data toachieve increased resolution of the data at the receiver, according toan embodiment of the invention. Resolution, as the term is used here,involves the amount of detail which can be created at the receiver withthe data. For example, with video data the bits carrying the basicresolution (e.g., standard definition video) may be transmitted over oneprotocol, while additional bits for increased resolution (e.g., highdefinition video) may be transmitted over another protocol. Theseportions may then be combined at the receiver for creating thehigh-resolution image. If some of the additional resolution is notreceived correctly, that portion of the video may be shown at the basicresolution. This may be used advantageously, for example, bytransmitting the basic resolution over licensed spectrum, whereobtaining the necessary bandwidth is relatively assured, andtransmitting the increased resolution bits over an unlicensed spectrum,where obtaining the necessary bandwidth may depend on the amount ofother traffic competing for the medium.

In another example, additional error correcting code (ECC) may betransmitted over a different protocol. ECC data that will correct acertain number of errors may be transmitted with the content in thenormal manner. Additional ECC information for that content, that willpermit correcting more than that number of errors when combined with thebasic ECC, may be available over the other protocol. In this way, theprotocol carrying the basic message will not be slowed down withexcessive ECC information that is seldom needed, but that additional ECCinformation will be available for those occasions when it is needed.

The flow diagram of FIG. 5 may also be used to illustrate this processfor communicating increased resolution.

Load Balancing

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram of a method of using multiple protocols forload balancing, according to an embodiment of the invention. Loadbalancing, as the term is used here, involves adjusting the amount ofdata transmitted over each protocol to reduce the chances that oneprotocol will suffer from excessive congestion while another protocolhas excessive available capacity. For example, if the data traffic usingone protocol becomes relatively congested, more data may be shifted tothe other protocol. This may be done dynamically, by monitoring the datatraffic for each protocol.

In the illustrated example, the protocols to be used are determined at610. If only two protocols are available, those two may be used. If morethan two are available, various criteria may be used to select theprotocols to be used. At 620, the selected protocols may be monitored todetermine how much available bandwidth each protocol is expected to havein the near future. Monitoring a particular protocol may be done in anyfeasible manner, such as but not limited to: 1) monitoring how muchrequested bandwidth is not allocated to a device in a scheduledprotocol, 2) monitoring how long it takes to acquire access to themedium in an unscheduled protocol, 3) monitoring the amount of time thenetwork appears to be busy, 4) monitoring the size of transmit queues,as observed in the device and/or as reported by other devices, 5) etc.Monitoring may be done by the device through direct observation, or byreceiving reports of conditions from one or more other devices.

At 630, the data to be transmitted may be separated into multipleportions, and each portion may be allocated to one of the selectedprotocols at 640. This allocation may be done with the intent ofavoiding the unbalanced loads as previously described, based on thebandwidth that each protocol is expected to have available. Afterbeginning to transmit the data over both protocols at 650, theconditions for each protocol may be repeatedly monitored at 660. Ifthese conditions indicate the load is becoming unbalanced (beyond acertain limit), operations may revert back to 630/640, where the data tobe transmitted may be reallocated to the two protocols in a differentproportion.

Although the example describes load balancing based on the communicationbetween two different devices, load balancing may also consider how mucheach protocol is used with other devices. For example, if a networkcontroller makes heavy use of a first protocol and light use of a secondprotocol when communicating with a first mobile device, the networkcontroller may make light use of the first protocol and heavy use of thesecond protocol when communicating with a second mobile device, so thatneither protocol will become too heavily congested.

Reduced Energy Consumption

Multi-protocol communications may be used to reduce energy consumption.Using an additional protocol may increase the spectrum over which thetotal communication may be spread. By spreading the transmission acrossmore spectrum, the data rate on a given channel may be reducedapproximately in proportion to the amount of increased spectrum. But thepower it takes to transmit may change approximately exponentially inproportion to the change in data rate, so the overall power may bereduced proportionately more than the bandwidth is increased.

Reduced Overhead

Multi-protocol communications may be used to reduce overheadcommunications. Most network communications involve a certain amount ofoverhead information that must be communicated between devices. When twodifferent protocols are being used to communicate the content, some ofthis overhead may be redundant, as it would normally be repeated on bothprotocols. For example, control information may be communicated thatapplies to the data communicated over both protocols. In someembodiments, such control information may be communicated over only oneprotocol, leaving more bandwidth on the other protocol for content. Thismay be especially useful for time-sensitive content, such as videocontent, in which a slight delay will be noticeable. By using a slower,contention-based protocol for the periodic control information, most ofthe faster, schedule-based protocol may be available to carry the videoinformation.

The foregoing description is intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. Variations will occur to those of skill in the art. Thosevariations are intended to be included in the various embodiments of theinvention, which are limited only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: determining data to becommunicated with a wireless device; separating the data into multipleparts; communicating a first part with the wireless device over a firstwireless protocol, the first part to comprise data for a first videoresolution; and communicating a second part with the wireless deviceover a second wireless protocol different than the first wirelessprotocol, the second part to comprise data for a second video resolutionthat is higher than the first video resolution.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein at least one of the first and second protocols are selectedfrom a list of wireless protocols consisting of WiFi, WiMax, LTE, andBluetooth.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said communicating thefirst part is performed simultaneously with said communicating thesecond part.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said communicating thefirst part is performed concurrently with said communicating the secondpart.
 5. An apparatus, comprising a first device having a processor, amemory, and a radio, the first device to: communicate data wirelesslywith a second device, the data having first and second parts, the firstpart to comprise data for a first video resolution, the second part tocomprise data for a second video resolution that is higher than thefirst video resolution; and communicate the first part with a firstprotocol and communicate the second part with a second protocoldifferent than the first protocol; wherein the first and second parts ofthe data are associated with a single application.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 5, wherein: the first protocol is a contention-based protocol andthe second protocol is a scheduled protocol; the contention-basedprotocol is to be given a higher priority than the scheduled protocol,and the scheduled communication is to be scheduled around thecontention-based communication.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5, whereinsaid communicating the first part is to be performed simultaneously withsaid communicating the second part.
 8. The apparatus of claim 5, whereinsaid communicating the first part is to be performed concurrently withsaid communicating the second part.
 9. The apparatus of claim 5, whereinsaid communicating is to comprise transmitting encoded video at thefirst video resolution over the first protocol and transmittingadditional resolution bits for the encoded video over the secondprotocol.
 10. An article comprising a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium that contains instructions, which when executed by one ormore processors result in performing operations comprising: determiningdata to be communicated with a wireless device; separating the data intomultiple parts; communicating a first part with the wireless device overa first wireless protocol, the first part to comprise data for a firstvideo resolution; and communicating a second part with the wirelessdevice over a second wireless protocol different than the first wirelessprotocol, the second part to comprise data for a second video resolutionthat is higher than the first video resolution.
 11. The article of claim10, wherein said separating takes place at a MAC layer.
 12. The articleof claim 10, wherein said separating takes place at a PHY layer.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, comprising transmitting encoded video at the firstvideo resolution over the first protocol and transmitting additionalresolution bits for the encoded video over the second protocol.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, the first video resolution to comprise a standarddefinition video resolution.
 15. The method of claim 1, the second videoresolution to comprise a high definition video resolution.
 16. Themethod of claim 1, comprising: communicating the first part over alicensed spectrum; and communicating the second part over an unlicensedspectrum.
 17. The apparatus of claim 5, the first video resolution tocomprise a standard definition video resolution.
 18. The apparatus ofclaim 5, the second video resolution to comprise a high definition videoresolution.
 19. The apparatus of claim 5, the first device tocommunicate the first part over a licensed spectrum and communicate thesecond part over an unlicensed spectrum.
 20. The article of claim 10,the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containinginstructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, resultin performing operations comprising transmitting encoded video at thefirst video resolution over the first protocol and transmittingadditional resolution bits for the encoded video over the secondprotocol.
 21. The article of claim 10, the first video resolution tocomprise a standard definition video resolution.
 22. The article ofclaim 10, the second video resolution to comprise a high definitionvideo resolution.
 23. The article of claim 10, the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium containing instructions that, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, result in performing operationscomprising: communicating the first part over a licensed spectrum; andcommunicating the second part over an unlicensed spectrum.